Kelly
by Katani-chan
Summary: Wow, this has been sitting for awhile. Umm, excuse my EXTREME lateness, but I just discovered I had more chapters laying around my comp, so now it's up to chp6. I'm also re-writing, so chps 1-2 are MUCH better
1. chapter 1

  
  
Set in their Junior year  
  
Zim ran to Hi Skool, dodging the shuriken that Dib had recently begun using. A few dug into the metal door as it closed behind him. He leaned back against it, catching his breath. The few kids nearby simply rolled their eyes and ignored him. Seeing the time on the clock, Zim snickered as he ran to class. He'd make it, but the Dib-worm would be late yet again.  
  
Dib cursed as he slipped into class as the teacher, Mr. Green, simply shook his head dissapointedly. He had another Saturday detention, thanks to Zim.  
  
Once the class had settled, Mr. Green motioned for a new girl to come up to the front.  
  
"Class, this is Kelly Drews. Kelly, would you like to tell the class a little about yourself?"  
  
Kelly appeared to think for a moment, before giving Mr. Green the finger and going to sit back down. Mr. Green grabbed her by the wrist, and brought back up to the front.  
  
"Please, Kelly, isn't there anything you'd like to share? Something about your family, pets, maybe a boyfriend?"  
  
Kelly froze for a moment before bringing her knee up, sharply. Mr. Green doubled over in pain and Kelly kicked him once in the side for good measure, before heading back to her desk. As she walked, she caught sight of Zim and paused, a pained expression flitting across her face. Noticing her gaze, Zim looked at her and Kelly drew in a quick breath, before turning sharply and sitting down. Zim blinked once, before shrugging and returning to his doodle of a giant moose gnawing on Dib's large head.  
  
Once Mr. Green's voice returned to normal, he asked the class to stand one at a time and say their names so that Kelly could get to know them. Kelly ignored them all until Zim stood and quickly stated his name. The pained expression returned, and her eyes unfocused as she thought of the past. Seeing this, Dib glanced from the new girl to Zim, who just shrugged.  
  
At lunch, Dib slid into the seat across from Kelly. Not bothering to look up, she sighed.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"I noticed you looking at Zim. Can you see what he is?"  
  
Kelly rolled her eyes, but didn't look up as she mumbled her answer.  
  
"Alien. Irken, to be specific."  
  
Dib blinked, she knew more than he'd expected. Before he could come up with another question, she looked up at him, eyes cold.  
  
"If you open your mouth one more time, I will be forced to hurt you."  
  
From behind, another voice joined the conversation.  
  
"Well, may I speak?"  
  
Kelly turned to face Zim. Her expression softened, but only very slightly.  
  
"I will allow you a chance."  
  
Zim tried to supress his desire to rant at the human about not respecting the almighty Zim, his need for information was, for once, greater than his ego.  
  
"You obviously know what I am, and yet you do not try to proclaim it to the world. Why?"  
  
Kelly glanced briefly at Dib, this probably explained the shuriken embedded in the door.  
  
"I tried that, once. It didn't work. I decided against making a fool of myself a second time."  
  
Dib's eyes went wide.  
  
"You've encountered aliens before? And didn't report it?"  
  
Kelly put a hand to her head, resisting the urge to smack the boy.  
  
"Yes, I've encountered aliens before. A couple years ago, while I was still in grade skool, a new kid showed up. He was slightly tall, but was green, without a nose or ears. I followed him around, trying to learn about him. Once I realized he was an alien, I tried to get as much evidence as I could, to send in to some tabloid or something. He always caught me though. Well, almost always. One day, in middle skool, I managed to get some hard evidence, and hid it somewhere that he couldn't get to. He knew he was defeated, but in the years we'd been enemies, he'd grown to like this planet and wanted to stay, so he told me what his planet was like."  
  
Kelly looked around, no one was within hearing distance.   
  
"All of the young on his planet are raised to invade, conquer, and destroy. Because this is what they are taught, and usually all they know, they don't think anything of it, just follow their orders, often with pride. Tem was different. For some reason, something in his code was off and he hated the idea of destroying other races just to make room for another parking planet. He was able to hide his disgust long enough to graduate and get a decent position as an adviser to the rulers of the planet. Eventually he managed to get himself banished, said goodbye to the only Irken that didn't despise him, and made it to earth."  
  
Dib blinked, trying to process the information. Zim, however, sat next to Kelly.  
  
"What happened when he arrived? My computer has not detected any other Irkens."  
  
Kelly looked down, sad.  
  
"I handed him the evidence and walked away. The next day we talked, adn it turned out we had quite a lot in common. We became friends, for years we were inseperable. Then, just before Hi Skool started, his new radar found that there was another Irken on the planet. Fearing for his safety and mine, he left."  
  
Dib was still shocked, but Zim just looked thoughtful.  
  
"This Irken....What was his name?"  
  
"Tem, why?"  
  
Zim froze, then looked very closely at Kelly.  
  
"He didn't happen to leave you anything you could use to contact him, did he?"  
  
"If he had, I would have used it by now."  
  
"Did he leave anything at all with you?"  
  
Kelly took off her necklace, carefully handing it to Zim. Zim turned it over in his hands. It appeared to be made of pale amethyst, with a thin ring of silver circling it. Inside the stone, if you looked carefully, was a small picture of a purple-eyed irken. Zim handed the necklace back to Kelly.  
  
"On the silver there is a micro-enscription. It's a frequency code, which could possibly be used to contact him."  
  
Kelly's face lit up, before falling slightly.  
  
"After skool, if I can, I will meet you at the 24/7. We will then go to your base and try that code."  
  
Zim nodded, and Kelly tilted her head slightly.  
  
"Wait a minute....You were the friend Tem mentioned, weren't you?"  
  
Zim nodded, and Kelly smiled, before shaking his hand. Dib just shook his head slowly, simultaneously deciding to follow them and sneak into Zim's base.  
  
Only ten minutes after skool had ended Kelly ran into the 24/7, red-faced and breathing heavily. Zim looked at her strangely. She grinned.  
  
"C'mon, I only have half an hour before I hafta get home."  
  
Zim nodded, and begame walking towards his base. Across the street, behind a bush, Dib smirked and began following them.  
  
Zim led Kelly down to his lab, and she stood in front of the screen as he entered the code. The screen blurred for a moment, before forming a picture of Tem, who was passed out on the keyboard. Kelly laughed.  
  
"Tem! Get up!"  
  
"Whu...? Kelly? Kelly!"  
  
Kelly laughed as Tem sat straight up, blinking dazedly.  
  
"Wow...Been a while. You haven't changed much, and....wait, is that....Zim?"  
  
Zim grinned, moving next to Kelly.  
  
"Been a long time Tem. You've grown."  
  
"So've you! Wow, I think it's something to do with that planet's atmosphere. Tallest, the last time I saw you you couldn't have come up past my waist....I bet you're at least up to my shoulders now."  
  
Just as Kelly was about to speak again, there was a loud noise behind her. Spinning, she saw Dib sprawled on the floor. Zim growled.  
  
"Dib! What are you doing here?"  
  
"What do you think I'm doing? I'm trying to get evidence."  
  
"Why do you still bother? I always win, and you know it."  
  
"Only in your dreams, alien scum."  
  
Kelly and Tem glanced at each other before starting to laugh.  
  
"You guys act just like we used to.....And I have to go....My parents will be hiome soon."  
  
Tem cringed slightly, before smiling at Kelly.  
  
"Y'know, since I'm in no danger of benig reported by Zim, I could probably come back."  
  
Kelly's eyes shot wide open.  
  
"Really?! You mean it?"  
  
Tem nodded, and Kelly couldn't help but squeal.  
  
"There's an empty lot just down the street from my house. When will you get here?"  
  
"I should arrive in a couple months, if I hurry. And you should go, if your parents are coming home."  
  
Kelly nodded, then ran off. Dib tried to sneak off, but Zim's computer caught him.  
  
"Oh no you don't, Dib. I've got a few experiments I've been wanting to test...."  
  
Tem and Zim laughed as the computer took Dib out of the room.   
  
"Y'know, you should be nicer to him."  
  
"Not in a hundred millenia. He is my enemy."  
  
Tem shook his head, amused.  
  
"I used to think the same thing about Kelly. Well, I should get packing. If I'm even a day late, Kelly will hose me."  
  
Zim nodded and Tem cut the connection, then headed down to the room where Dib was being held. He really had been wanting a live test subject for his latest experiment. He'd discovered that chocolate was actually poisonous to humans, and wanted to find out the dosage required for it to affect one.  
  
Man, I wanna be the test subject for that experiment! Well, I hope you liked this better than the original version ><; It was baaaad....Please Review! 


	2. Chapter 2

  
  
When Kelly reached her house she sighed. Her mom's car was in the driveway, she was late. As soon as she stepped in the door, she was greeted with a slap across her face.  
  
"You're late, Kelly."  
  
"Sorry mom, I was helping a friend with their homeowrk."  
  
"Like hell you were."  
  
Another slap.  
  
"I bet you were off buying drugs, or getting drunk. You were, weren't you?"  
  
"No, Mom, I was only--"  
  
"Don't lie to me! Now go get cleaned up and make dinner, your father will be home in an hour, we'll see what he has to say about this."  
  
Kelly quickly walked into the kitchen, washing her hands and getting the spaghetti pan out.  
  
_ "I don't know why I still try arguing with her, it just gets me in more trouble. Great, now I'm gonna get tested for drugs. Again. Wouldn't be surprised if I win another trip to the gynecologist as well.....effing paranoid parents..."_  
  
As soon as Kelly's father walked in the door her mother was all over him, telling him about how worried she'd been when she'd gotten home and Kelly wasn't there, how long it was before she finally walked in the door, stumbling slightly, with a strange slur to her voice. Kelly didn't bother arguing, it would be completely pointless. As everyone as sitting down to dinner, her father began ranting about how she should be smarter than to give in to peer pressure, and not to worry her mother like that, the usual bull. Kelly tuned him out, knowing all the places where she was supposed to nod by heart. Her mother had been doing this sort of thing since she was little.  
  
Kelly finished ehr dinner quickly, waited for her parents to finish, gathered the dishes, washed and dried them, then ran up to her room, leaning against her closed door.  
  
_ "Yeah, I was right. Mom managed to talk him into getting me tested. Gods, she makes me sound like some rabid dog off the street. I can't wait for Tem to get here...."_  
  
Glancing at the small book-shaped computer Tem had made for her, she noticed that a tiny light on it was blinking. She opened it, seeing a message from Tem on the screen.  
  
_ Kelly, just thought I'd let you know that when I arrive, I'll have a gift or two for you. Also, if you're wondering why I haven't used this to contact you while I was gone, there was something in that planet's atmosphere that blocked out almost all signals. Yup, I'm already over 1/8 of the way there. Can't wait to see you, love Tem_  
  
Kelly smiled, Tem still had his amazing sense of timing. She shut the computer and put it away, then sat down to do homework.   
  
She'd hardly gotten through her third math problem when her mother opened the door. Kelly groaned inwardly, she knew what was coming next.  
  
"Kelly, how dare you embarass me like that in front of your father! You didn't even look at him! You should have more respect for the people who shelter and clothe you! Well?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"  
  
Kelly only looked up at her mother. No matter what she did, the result would be the same, so why even bother? Kelly's mom grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into a standing position.  
  
"You answer me when I ask you something, you lady!"  
  
Kelly's mom held her there for a moment, as if waiting for an answer. Of course Kelly couldn't have made a sound even if she'd wanted too, her mother's grip was too tight. Her mother shook her, trying to evoke a response. When Kelly still did nothing, her mother got even angrier and threw her. Kelly crashed into the door, knocking it open. Her mother then descended on her, punching, kicking, scratching. It eventually culminated into her mother once again picking her up, and then throwing her down the stairs. As Kelly tumbled down the flight of 24 steps she groaned, she was going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.  
  
Kelly thanked whatever gods were listening that it was a saturday as she pulled herself out of bed. Standing in front of the full length mirror, she sighed. Her entire neck was purple, along with three spots on her face, at least five on each arm, more on her legs, and scratches everywhere. She slipped into the bathroom and cleaned the dried blood off, then covered the bruises on her face with makeup. Going back to her room, she pulled out a turtleneck, cursing the fact that it was nearly summer.   
  
After she was dressed, she paused and listened, then carefully looked out the window. Neither of her parents were home, good. She ran downstairs and ate a bowl of cereal then went outside, walking quickly to Zim's base.   
  
When she arrived Gir happily let her in, squealing and running around the living room. Kelly just laughed, then winced in pain and headed down to the labs. When the little elevator-disk stopped, Kelly blinked. Zim was laughing loudly while typing something, adn Dib was lying nearby, groaning and holding his stomach. Empty boxes of chocolate were spread around him.  
  
"Um, Zim....What did you do to Dib?"  
  
"Success! By force-feeding every stinking worm-baby exactly 8 pounds of chocolate, they will all be incapacitated and I can take over the world!"  
  
Kelly decided it was best if she didn't reply to that. Instead she removed her sweater, which was very hot and itchy, then went over to help Dib sit up. Zim turned around to see what she was doing, and noticed the bruises.  
  
"Kelly-human, why is your flesh discolored?"  
  
Holding Dib's long hair back as he vomited, she sighed.  
  
"My mom's a bitch, that's why."  
  
Zim shrugged and returned to recording Dib's reaction to the overdose of chocolate. Once Dib had stopped throwing up, Kelly had the computer clean up, then helped Dib lay down on a cot the computer provided. Zim watched, slightly curious.  
  
"Why did you come here, Kelly-human? Do you not have some pointless stink-beast thing to do?"  
  
After she was sure Dib was okay, she went to sit next to Zim.  
  
"Actually, I was hoping you had some sort of healing pod that I could use."  
  
"What do you know of healing pods?"  
  
"Enough to program one to deal with a human. I need it to fix the discolorations of my flesh."  
  
Zim nodded, and instructed the computer to transport her to the pods. As she walked away he looked over at Dib, who was now asleep and curled up into a ball. Zim walked over to him, crouching down to look at his face. After a moment, he began poking the human until he woke up.  
  
"Unnghh...whaddya want, scum?"  
  
"What causes discolorations in a human's flesh?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Blue spots on a human's skin, what causes them?"  
  
"Blue..? You mean bruises? Well, usually if you're hit by something hard enough, it'll cause one, or if you fall....why?"  
  
"Kelly had quite a few, including some that were masked by a strange substance that had the same color as her usual flesh."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"She had these so called bruises on much of her body, that I could see, and the computer detected more that were covered by clothing. They were all over her body."  
  
Zim poked various spots on Dib, relating to where bruises were on Kelly.  
  
"Do you know what would cause such a pattern of these bruises?"  
  
"No clue...ugh, I still feel sick.."  
  
Zim snickered, amused by his foe's pain. Well, until Dib threw up on him.  
  
Zim was just putting a new uniform on when Tem contacted him.   
  
"Hello Zim, is Kelly there by any chance?"  
  
Zim nodded as he straightened out the uniform.  
  
"Yes, I beleive she's still in the tanks. Computer! How long until Kelly is finished?"  
  
"She is just getting out now."  
  
"Good. Well, she should be here in a moment, Tem....What is wrong?"  
  
Tem was holding his hands over his eyes, shoulders slumped.  
  
"It's...It's nothing, Zim. But could you, maybe, keep her at your place until I get there?"  
  
"And why would he do that, Tem?"  
  
Kelly walked up to the moniter, still rubbing at her damp hair with a towel. Tem sighed, and motioned towards her neck, which was still slightly bruised.  
  
"You missed some. I can't beleive she's still doing that to you. You need to get out of there."  
  
"Tem, she's always done this, she won't stop just because you want her too. Besides, I _can't_ just leave, you remembered what happened last time I tried."  
  
"I know, I know, but....I can't stand to see you go through that, Kelly."  
  
"I know, Tem, but it can't be helped."  
  
"I still don't see why you don't report them, Kelly."  
  
"Because I CAN'T! You know that."  
  
Tem sighed, looking down for a moment, before his head shot back up as an idea hit him.  
  
"I'll be there today."  
  
"What? How is that possible?"  
  
"There's a wormhole that opens up pretty close to where you are. It'll be risky, but I can handle it."  
  
"Oh, yeah, great. You're so worried about taking care of me that you're gonna go get yourself KILLED."  
  
Tem just grinned and cut the connection, causing Kelly to swear under her breath.  
  
"Damn fool's actually gonna do it....If he dies, I'm gonna kill him."  
  
Kelly pulled her sweater back on, then helped Dib stand up.  
  
"Zim! you keep an eye on Tem's ship, make sure it doesn't implode or anything. I'm taking Dib home."  
  
"Oh, okay...Hey! You can't just walk off with my prisoner!"  
  
Waiting impatiently for a reply, it took Zim a moment to realize he'd been yelling an empty room.  
  
Once Kelly had gotten Dib home, she ran to her house. Not only did she want to get all her stuff packed up, but Dib's creepy sister thought she'd been the one to make him sick and had sent this scary zombie-kid chasing after her.  
  
She ran in the door, closing it quickly behind her. The zombie scratched at the door for a while before giving up and wandering away, mumbling something about brains. Glancing outside to make sure it had left, she saw that he'd left some noticiable scratches on the door. Swearing, she grabbed a bucket of paint from the garage that was the right color, and began painting over them. Just as she was finishing up, a large shadow fell over her. seeing her mom's car in the driveway, she cringed and looked up.   
  
::SMACK::  
  
Kelly quickly pulled heraelf up from the ground where she'd fallen when her mother hit her.  
  
"First you stay out late, worrying me sick, then you don't pick up the phone when I call, and now you've shredded the door! I can't beleive what an ungratful little whore you are!"  
  
Before Kelly could utter more than a small noise in protest, her mother had punched her hard enough to send her flying onto the driveway. Realizing that someone might see them, Kelly's mother picked the now bleeding teenager up by the back of her sweater and pulled her inside the house.  
  
As soon as they were inside, Kelly managed to wrench herself out of her mother's grip, ripping the back of her shirt as she did so. When her mother saw her neck, she grabbed Kelly by the shoulders, pulling her closer.  
  
"And what's THIS? You've been sleeping with some guy, haven't you!? In fact, I bet you even got paid for it! You little slut!"  
  
Kelly's mother smacked her across the face again. Before she could land a secong hit, Kelly pulled herself out of range.  
  
"Mom! Stop! You're the one who caused the marks on my neck when you strangled me yesterday!"  
  
"How DARE you!? I would NEVER do that to you!"  
  
"Then what are you doing right now?!"  
  
"Don't talk back to me, young lady!"  
  
Kelly backed away, her mother had completely lost it this time. As She ran into the living room her mother followed her, sreaming obscenities. Kelly tripped, nearly hitting her head on the fireplace. Before she could get back up, her mother had pulled the poker out of the fire and was holding it above her. Kelly found she couldn't even scream as hermother began choking he with one hand and beater her with the poker using the other hand. Eventually, Kelly managed to kick her, but that only made it worse. Her mother let go of her throat, then used both hands to stab Kelly with the still white-hot poker. Kelly finally managed to scream when she heard the poker crunch through the floor beneath her.  
  
Tem grinned to himself as he was shot out of the worm-hole.  
  
"And Kelly said it'd kill me. Okay, lessee....Coordinates for Kelly's place, check...Gift for Kelly, check...New disguise to completely freak her out, double check! Computer, how long until we reach our destination?"  
  
"For the LAST time, three minutes!"  
  
Temm giggled amusedly, then sat down to watch the blue sphere approach.  
  
Once they'd landed, Tem left his computer to set up a house while he quickly donned his new disguise, which consisted of a long brown wig, blue contacts, and very baggy clothes. He ran down the street to Kelly's house, hoping her parents weren't home yet.  
  
Halfway down the street, Tem paused. A blood-curdling scream had just ripped through the air, and it was an awfully familiar blood-curdling scream. Quickly sprouting mechanical legs from his pak, he darted towards Kelly's house. When he got there, he kicked the door down, and nearly screamed himself. Kelly was pinned to the floor by a smoking iron rod, covered in cuts and bruises, with her mother crouching over her, apparently STILL beating the crap out of her. Tem withdrew his metal legs and ran over to Kelly, pushing her mother away.  
  
"Kelly! Kelly, answer me."  
  
Kelly smiled up at him, before coughing up a few droplets of blood.  
  
"Shit. Kelly, stay very still, and try not to scream."  
  
Kelly nodded, and Tem carefully reached under her, to where the poker had stuck into the floor. After a few minutes, he managed to pull it free, but left it stuck through Kelly.  
  
"Okay, Kelly. I'm going to take you back to my base, the computer will know better than me what to do, alright?"  
  
Kelly nodded feebly before resting her head against his chest and going limp. Cursing in every language he could think of, Tem activated the emergency jet in his pak and hauled ass back to his base.  
  
Dib was woken in the middle of the night by something tapping on his window. Realizing that it was Zim, he immidiately jumped up, grabbing for the emergency water pistol he kept next to his bed. Zim rolled his eyes.  
  
"Put that down, Dib. You need to come with me."  
  
"So you can do more experiments on me? I don't think so."  
  
"Kelly's been hurt."  
  
Dib paused.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Tem arrived just a few minutes ago, and went to get Kelly. When he walked into the house, Kelly was literally pinned to the floor by some sort of metal pole, and her mother was hitting her."  
  
Dib shook his head.  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
Suddenly another alien appeared behind Zim, this one with glowing purple eyes.  
  
"He's not. Please, come with us. I promise you won't be harmed in away way."  
  
Tem gave a meaningful look at Zim, who gave an irritated nod. Dib threw on his trenchcoat and Tem helped him out the window.   
  
Deciding that using the mechanical legs would be faster, Tem carried Dib. Giggling a little to himself, Tem looked down at the human boy.  
  
"You know, if I hadn't met Kelly first, I might have ended up going for you. You're really very pretty, and soft."  
  
Dib blanched.  
  
"Your girlfriend was impaled, and you're making jokes like that?!"  
  
Tem giggled again.  
  
"Aw, Kel'll be fine, she's been through worse. Besides, that wasn't a joke."  
  
Dib's eyes went wide, and he actually considered making Tem let Zim carry him.  
  
Kelly slowly opened her eyes. Her entire body hurt like hell, and she could tell that she was floating in a tank. Through the pinkish water she could see Tem's eyes, tired and concerned. She grinned, and his expression lightened considerably. Her eyes slipped closed again, and she went back into a healing sleep.  
  
Kelly woke again when the tank shook. her eyes immediatley shot wide open, and she moved to the glass to better see what was going on. Zim and Dib were fighting again, and had taken out weapons. Tem was shouting at them, she couldn't tell what he was saying. Kelly couldn't see the clock that said how long she still had, so she looked at herself. She couldn't find any bruises, though her neck still felt tender. The hole in her stomachs seemed to be just about healed up, but the wound was probably still in danger of opening again if she did too much. Shrugging, she hit the emergency stop button located just above her head and the liquid began to drain. As soon as the liquid level was low enough that it wouldn't spill out when she opened the hatch, she stepped out, grabbing the robe Tem always had next to the tank. Then, before any of the others had noticed she was out, she shouted at them.  
  
"Hey! What the HELL is going on here?"  
  
Everything stopped. Dib looked at her and quickly looked away, red-faced. Kelly giggled a little, the robe was just a bit smaller than she'd have chosen. Zim just glared at Dib, and Tem ran over to her.  
  
"Kelly, you weren't supposed to be out for at least another hour! Your wound's going to re-open!"  
  
Kelly grinned and shook her head.  
  
"Don't worry, Tem. Now, will someone please tell me WHY there were weapons drawn inside Tem's base?"  
  
Dib glanced at Zim.  
  
"He started it."  
  
"I did not! You was all your fault, Dib-worm!"  
  
"Stop! Tem, could you possibly tell me what happened?"  
  
Tem supressed a grin.  
  
"Dib fell alseep and fell over onto Zim, who took it as some sort of attack. It just escalated from there."  
  
Kelly sighed amusedly, looking at the two boys who were now avoiding her gaze.  
  
"Well, as long as it wasn't anything major. Ugh, the liquid feels so weird when it starts to dry. Tem, is the shower still in the same place?"  
  
"Not really. The computer will lead you."  
  
A small droid popped out of the wall and began floating away, Kelly walking after it.  
  
Once she was gone, Tem looked at Zim and Dib.   
  
"If you two do that again, _you'll_ be the ones needing a tank."  
  
Tem walked off, leaving the two to look at each other. Dib tilted his head.  
  
"Are you aliens usually that portective of people?"  
  
Zim snorted.  
  
"Tem's genetic structure is defective, as far as proper irkens go. Normal Irkens do not even bother to form relationships, there's no need. Besides, any relationships that do exist are rarely more than what you humans refer to as 'one-night stands'. Irkens have loyalty for the Tallets, and only the Tallests."  
  
Yay, 2 down, at least four more to go...>< sigh... 


	3. chapter 3

Disclaimer:You people should know this by now so I'm not even going to bother  
  
Authors note: I'm sorry that I'm taking so long but between school,dance classes, and homework, not to mention siblings,and chores I have had very little time to work. Plus I keep coming up with new ideas. Any other authors reading this know what it's like. I promise that I'll try to at least finish up one more of my fics by May.Well, on with the fic.  
  
Kelly  
Chapter 3

The next day Dib was back in skool but it was obvious that his shoulder was still hurting. Irken technology could only do so much overnight. Kelly stood just outside of the door to Mr.Green's classroom, intending to wait for Dib, when Mr.Green asked her to come in."Kelly, I'd like to talk about the little,um, incident yesterday." Kelly looked up at him. "Incident? You mean when I punched you in the face?" "Well, yes. Why did you do that?" "I don't like people who ask me about my life. Especially when it comes to boyfriends." "And why is that?" "What did I just say Mr.Green?" "Just tell me. Maybe I can help." "No, you wouldn't have been able to help. Nor will you now. I had been very close to someone that my parents disapproved of. After awhile it got to be so bad that he felt it would be safest if he left. So he did. My parents actually had a small party to celebrate and made me stay there with them. He gave me two things before he left though. My parents only know of the existence of one, which was a puppy that used to be his. My parents hate it, but don't actually do anything to it directly. But that doesn't matter now." "And why doesn't it matter?" "I've already told you more than I had been planning on and that still wasn't all of it." Mr.Green looked troubled but as soon as some other kids came into the room he instantly brightened up. Kelly went back to waiting for Dib and Zim. When she saw them, she ran to them and then couldn't think of anything to say. Dib still looked very weak and even a little ashen. It was obvious that Zim was supporting him. "Zim, I'll help him for a while. We have more classes together." Zim looked up at her. Kelly was surprised. Was that guilt on his face? "No Kelly, it's my fault. I should help him." "Zim, if you don't let me help, I will start rumors." Zim figured out what she meant pretty quickly and carefully handed Dib over to her. She turned her head slightly. "You felling better?" "Well, better than I did last night anyway. It still hurts like heck though."(AN:Trying to keep a low rating here,sorry if it sounds weird) Kelly waited for Zim to open the door to the classroom."Yeah,I know what it's like." Dib was about to ask her what she meant but the bell rang and Kelly had to help him to his desk. As she sat down in hers she thought._ Wow, I guess he lost more blood then I thought he did. I'm going to bring him to the nurse's office before gym. There's no way that he could handle it, considering that he's still having trouble standing._

After class, which had been a lecture on the symbolic meanings of trees,Kelly helped Dib to the nurse's office. Kelly thanked any deity that she could think of for the fact that the nurse would let you go home for almost anything. It was obvious that Dib probably wouldn't make it through the day without serious problems. Kelly left Dib sitting on one of the chairs outside of the nurse's office and ran to gym. She was able to get changed and into the gym before the bell rang, but only just barely. Mr.Mule was standing in the front of the gym, holding a red ball while the rest of the class had been separated into two groups._ Oh no, not dodgeball. Well it's a good thing that I brought Dib to the nurse. He would never have been able to make it through this. I wish that I had had friends like me and Zim when-_ Kelly's thoughts were interrupted when Zim ran up to her and dragged her over to his team. "Where's Dib?" "Nurse's office." "Good. We're playing dodgeball." "I know." "I detest this game." "So do I". Then Mr.Mule blew his whistle, signaling the start of the game. Balls were thrown back and forth in a blur until the only people left standing were Zim and Kelly on one side and Fred and Jim on the other. Fred and Jim were well known for their hate of anything or anyone new or different so Kelly, Zim, Dib, and countless others had met their fists before. Fred laughed. "You're goin down freaks." Jim joined in. "Yeah, you won't last a minute." Zim was about to say something when Kelly picked up a ball and quietly said "Well we'll just have to see, won't we." And threw the ball right at Fred's head. It connected, making an interesting sound, something akin to a rubber ball hitting a hollow log. Unfortunately the rules for dodgeball at this skool were a bit different. You had to fall down to be counted as out. Fred and Jim immediately started chucking balls at Zim and Kelly. Zim and Kelly worked together, dodging and throwing. if one didn't see a ball coming towards them the other would be there to catch it and then throw it in one fluid motion. It was over in three minutes, Fred and Jim's all out offense being no match for Zim and Kelly's teamwork . "You may hate this game but you're pretty good at it." Kelly said as they waited for the bell to ring. "You are good at it also. How was it that you seem to know what I'd do next?" Zim looked at her, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. "Instinct mostly. Tem let me try some of the training programs that he had from when he was learning to be an invader." Zim only had time to yell "WHAT?!" before the bell rang. 

Kelly ran to the nurse's office. Dib was sitting in the waiting area, holding a note and looking annoyed. "Hey Dib. SO, you going back to class or what?" "Going back to class. They won't let me go home because I don't have a fever." "Well come on then." Kelly helped Dib stand up. "So, can you walk on your own or do you still need help?" "I can walk by myself." "Alright, but if you start to feel dizzy, tell me." Dib shrugged and they walked to class.

"Finally, lunch. I don't know how many more lectures I can take before I just blast the teacher with a laser." Zim muttered to himself as he found an empty table to sit at. He had stopped buying lunch from the skool long ago, bringing some food from his home that was at least edible. He was soon joined by Dib and Kelly who also brought their lunches from home. Zim looked at Kelly. "They didn't allow him to go home?" "No. But he seems better. I want him to spend the night at your place again." "Alright." Dib cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I AM sitting right next to you." Kelly smirked. "Are you sure? Do you even know if you really exist?" Dib looked confused, then annoyed. "What does that have to do with anything?" Kelly smiled innocently. "Absolutely nothing." Dib just gave an exasperated sigh and began to eat his lunch. Kelly and Zim did the same. They finished quickly and got back to talking.

Zim once again looked at Kelly, this time curiously. "Kelly, I've been wondering." "Hmm?" "You keep alluding to something, like you know what Dib's going through." Dib looked at Kelly also. "Yeah. Why do you do that?" Kelly smiled grimly. "Because it did happen to me once, the wound was just a bit more serious." Dib tilted his head slightly. "How serious? From what you said, if Zim had hit me just a little to the side, I'd be dead." Kelly looked off to the side. "If it wasn't for his quick thinking and technology, I would be dead." Zim and Dib were astonished. "What?!" "The laser not only punched a hole straight through me, it completely destroyed a small but important section of my heart. Thankfully he weren't very far from his base and he was able to fix the damage and get me home before my parents even noticed." Zim looked doubtful. "How was he able to do that?" Kelly shrugged slightly. "I don't know. Ask Tem when he gets here."

The rest of the skool day was quiet and peaceful. That was also how the next two months went by, except for Gaz threatening to destroy Zim if he didn't let Dib come home. Finally, one day when the first class was about to start, Mr.Green announced that they had a new student.

"Class, This is Tem. Say hello to Tem everyone." The class mumbled something that was apparently supposed to sound like 'hello'. Then Mr.Green told Tem to find a seat. He chose one next to Kelly. She grinned and made the hand motions for 'nice disguise'. Tem had chosen blue eye contacts and had a messy dirty blond colored wig, with much of the hair going over his eyes. He also wore Earth clothes, a red T-shirt and jeans, along with sneakers. 

They sat quietly through their classes until Gym. Today they were going to play 'scooter soccer'. This was much like normal soccer, except played on square wooden boards with four wheels attached to them. When Kelly saw this she sighed. "I hate this game." "So do I." Kelly whirled around, finding herself staring at Tem. He grinned at her surprised expression. "Well c'mon. If we want to be on the same team we'd better hurry." Tem ran into the Gym. Kelly growled slightly in annoyance before following him. Zim and Dib, who had seen the entire thing, simply shrugged and entered the gym.

After gym was science. For once Zim and Dib weren't the only ones chuckling at how basic it was. Kelly and Tem joined them. The teacher, Ms.Toaden was almost immediately standing next to the table where the four sat. "And just what exactly is so funny about my class?" Kelly spoke. "It's not funny, it's simply that we know this already and it all seems so very basic. WE mean no disrespect to you, of course. We are sorry to have interrupted your class." The other three nodded their heads in agreement. Ms.Toaden turned and walked back to the front of the classroom. The rest of that class went smoothly. Then, they had another class with Mr.Green before lunch. As they small group walked to his classroom they talked. 

"Ugh, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stand him. He's just so....happy." Tem looked at Kelly. "Yes, I've only known him for a day and he is annoying me." Dib sighed. "Well at least he's better than Ms.Bitters." Both Zim and Dib shuddered at the memory. Kelly reached the door to the classroom first and paused. On the blackboard she saw the name Ms.Bitters. Also, Mr.Green was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a very unpleasant looking old lady. Kelly turned to face the others. "just what did this Ms.Bitters look like?" Zim answered her. "Tall, oval glasses, gray hair held back in a tight bun, either wearing a black or dark purple dress, sallow skin, looks too old to be alive." Kelly grimaced. "Then you guys aren't gonna be too happy." Kelly and Tem entered the classroom. Dib and Zim followed, both having to stifle a scream wen they saw what Kelly had been talking about.

  
Next chapter: What happens during their class with Ms.Bitters, what happens during lunch, the rest of that skool day, and most likely what happens after skool. Well, please review! 


	4. chapter 4

Zim and the others quietly filed into the room and took seats near the back. They were probably the only students that didn't scream when they saw their substitute teacher. Even the kids who hadn't had her for a teacher in grade skool were scared. Ms. Bitters looked even more unpleasant than she used to, if that was possible. Once all of the students were seated, Ms. Bitters steepled her fingers and peered out at teh calss.  
  
"You're regular teacher, Mr. Green, had come down with sdome sort of virus, probably fatal. I recognize most of your mizerable faces, so I know what this class will be like. You'll all end up mizerable losers, living off of your mizerable parents."  
  
Kelly leaned over to Tem.  
  
"Well, she's right about the mizerable part."  
  
Tem gave her a symapthetic smile, just before Ms. Bitters appeared behind her.  
  
"No talking! You four will get detention."  
  
Dib turned around t face his old teacher.  
  
"But Ms. Bitters, Zim and I didn't do anything."  
  
"I remember you mizerable children. You annoy me. Detention!"  
  
Dib slumped in his seat and Zim banged his head against his desk. The rest of the class went normally, Ms. Bitters lecturing on how they were all doomed, and most of the children falling asleep. On the way out of class, Kelly didn't want to speak, in case Ms. Bitters heard her, so she made a rude sign in referance to her, and Tem had to stfle a laugh. He made a 'funny' gesture, and they kept walking.  
  
Once the four of them were sitting down at their lunch table, Kelly looked at Tem.  
  
"SO, what was that surprise you were hinting about?"  
  
"You'll have to wait to find out."  
  
"Tem, you ought to know by now tht I'm not exactly a patient human. Tell me."  
  
"No. You have to wait."  
  
"Fine then, I guess this calls for more drastic measures."  
  
Before Tem could ask her what she meant by that, Kelly had pulled a fully loaded pocket-sized water gun out and had it pointed directly at Tem's face.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"Oh, not this again. Kelly, please, I want it to be a surprise."  
  
Kelly fired a couple drops, which hit Tem on the forehead.  
  
"Ow ow ow. Kelly, come on. I thought you promised that you wouldn't do this again."  
  
"Except in extreme measures. Now, tell me."  
  
Tem refused, and Kelly hit him with some more water. After this had been going on for a while, Dib leaned over to Zim.  
  
"This seems almost crueler than what I plan to do to you, once I finally catch you."  
  
"In some very wrong, twisted way, I must agree with you."  
  
A minute before the bell, Tem finally gave up.  
  
"Alright, I'll tell you. But just remember that yiou don't get it until you move in."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"I made you your very own Voot Runner."  
  
Kelly squeled and hugged Tem, very tightly.  
  
"Gah, Kelly, let go. You're crushing my organs."  
  
Kelly laughed and let go of Tem.  
B"Thank you so much Tem! I'm sorry about the whole water gun thing."  
  
"It's alright. I've always been a fast healer."  
  
"After what I put you through the last time you were here, I should hope so."  
  
They both laughed on their way to their next class. They made it through that and the rest of their classes that day without any major trouble. As they were walking out of their last class, Ms. Bitters appeared in front of them.  
  
"Detention!"  
  
"I know, Ms. Bitters. But If I don't call my parents they'll come looking for me."  
  
Ms. Bitters didn't like parents, so she allowed Kelly to call. Her parents didn't care, and told her to come home whenever, so she hung up and returned to Ms. Bitters classroom. The four of them were made to stand in a corner and write an essay on why they were doomed. Dib wrote about Zim's plan to take over the planet, Zim wrote about wretched human filth, making sure to include plenty about Dib, Kelly wrote about her parents, which is what Tem also wrote about. They weren't allowed to leave until all of them had finished, which took awhile, since Zim had gone into rant mode. The four of them walked home together until they reached the intersection where their paths split. Tem and Kelly waved at Zim and Dib, then continued walking. Once they were within view of Kelly's house, Tem crossed over to the other sideof the street. Kelly told him that she'd finish packing and move in during the weekend, since her parents never paid attention to her then. Tem nodded and they walked into their houses.  
  
Once Kelly reached her room she tossed her backpack on the floor and flopped onto her bed with a sigh. She layed there for a minute before getting up and doing her homework. By the time she finished that, it was time to make dinner. She made spaghetti, and had it out just in time for her parents to come in. As they were eating, Kelly's mother did something rather unusual. She spoke.  
  
"So Kelly, have you made any new friends yet?"  
  
"Um, yeah. A couple."  
  
"Well that's good. What are their names?"  
  
Kelly was startingn to get a little nervous. She must have heard something from a mother of a popular kid. She took a deep breath, gathering her courage to tell the truth, since she refused to let her mother rule her life any more.  
  
"Their names are Zim and Dib."  
  
"Oh, I've heard about them. Zim's the strange boy with a skin condition, isn't he?"  
  
Kelly nodded.  
  
"And Dib, he's the son of Professor Membrane, right?"  
  
Another nod.  
  
"Well, at least you chose one friend well. I would suggest dropping that Zim boy though, he just sounds strange."  
  
Kelly couldn't keep from glaring at her mother.  
  
"Mom, Zim's really nice. I refuse to 'drop him' as you so eloquently put it, simply because he's different."  
  
As Kelly stood up and took the dishes, she glanced at her mother.  
  
"By the way, I thought you'd be interested to know that Tem's back."  
  
Kelly turned and entered the kitchen, missing her mother's enraged face.  
  
Once she finished the dishes, she went back up to her room and started packing, only taking things that she either couldn't, or didn't want to replace.   
  
At 1:00 a.m., Kelly quietly sat up. She was still for a moment, making sure that her parents were asleep. Once she was confident enough, she carefully threw on her coat, since she hadn't changed out of the clothes she had during skool, picked up her backpack and single suitcase, into which she had crammed everything important, and carefully slid the window open. She crawled out, clinging to the drainpipe as she closed the window with her left hand. She cautiously climbed down the drainpipe, dropping to the ground once she was close enough. Then, before her parents could check to see what the noise was, if they even noticed, Kelly ran across the street, stopping just in front of Tem's door. She caught her breath, then knocked. It took a moment before a robot opened the door, Tem standing in the shadows behind it. The robot twitched as its programming kicked in.  
  
"Hello Miss, may I help you?"  
  
Ignoring the robot, Kelly smiled and waved at Tem, who blinked in surprise. He shut down the robot and let Kelly inside, closing the door at the same time.  
  
"Two questions."  
  
Kelly smiled a little.  
  
"What?"  
  
"First, how did you see me? Second, I thought you were going to move in this weekend?"  
  
Kelly sat down on the couch, dropping her bags.  
  
"Answer to question one, with how the light was coming from the light post on the corner, it made your eyes almost seem to glow, answer to question two, I decided it would be safer to move in now, since I kinda told my mom you were back."  
  
Tem sat down next to Kelly  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, she asked me if I had made any new friends, and I told her about Zim and Dib. She wasn't very happy, and told me that Dib was alright, since his dad's famous, but that I should drop Zim. I just opicked up the dishes, and told her you were back as I walked past her."  
  
Tem simply nodded.  
  
"Kelly, you look like you're about to fall asleep. I haven't had a chance to set up your room yet, so you can sleep on my bed for tonight."  
  
"Where'll you sleep?"  
  
"The couch."  
  
Kelly looked up at Tem, and it was obivous that she was only half-awake.  
  
"Nuh-uh. You can keep your bed, and I'll sleep on the couch. I don't mind, it's comfy."  
  
Tem smiled and rolled his eyes, before picking Kelly up. Kelly squealed.  
  
"Hey! Where are you going, Tem?"  
  
"You're gonna sleep on the bed, even if I have to knock you out."  
  
Kelly, realizing that he wasn't joking. crossed her arms and pouted the rest of the trip up to Tem's room. Once they got there, Tem set Kelly down on the bed, and she just crawled under the covers. Tem stood for a moment, looking at her, then turned to leave. Before he had taken two steps, Kelly had wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. She giggled.  
  
"Nighjt Tem, and thanks.'  
  
Tem smiled and patted her head.  
  
"Night and welcome, Kelly."  
  
Kelly laid back down and Tem left the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
The next morning, Tem wa woken by a whining and scratching noise coming from outside. He quickly put on his disguise and opened the door to see what looked like a chocolate lab puppy. Tem smiled and let Mir inside. The SIR unit ran straight for the couch, sat down, and turned on the t.v. with a remote that it retreived from the storage space in it's head. Tem's jaw dropped.  
  
"So _you_ had the remote all this time!" 


	5. chapter 5

Tem had cooked breakfast before he went upstairs to wake Kelly up. He first tried tapping her, which had no reaction, so her tried shaking her a little, which got a mumble, but nothing more. Then, as Tem was about to try again, the doorbell rang, and Kelly sat straight up, bonking Tem's head in the process. Kelly blinked, looked down at Tem, who was rubbing his jaw, shrugged, then went dowstairs, where the robot had already answered the door. Kelly deactivated it, after seeing that Zim was at the door. Zim blinked once.  
  
"Kelly? What are you doing here?"  
  
Kelly dragged Zim inside and shut the door, then looked down at her watch.  
  
"I got here....5 hours ago."  
  
"Yeah, but why?"  
  
"I decided to move in early. Well, it smells like breakfast is ready, you hungry?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Kelly ran into the kitchen, and ran back out a moment later.  
  
"Pancakes, butter, syrup, milk, orange juice, and anything else in the fridge."  
  
Zim grimaced, he'd had too many pancake experiences at his own house to ever consider eating them. Kelly grinned.  
  
"No? Oh well. So, why'd you come here?"  
  
Before Zim reply, Tem had gotten dowstairs and grabbed Kelly's shoulder.  
  
"No talk. Eat."  
  
Kelly laughed as she allowed Tem to push her into the kitchen. As she sat down at the table she poked Tem.  
  
"Looks like someone hasn't had their gramol yet."  
  
Tem grinned and rolled his eyes, pouring himself a cup of the aforementioned coffe-like substance. Zim blinked.  
  
"You've heard of gramol?"  
  
Kelly laughed a bit, swallowing a mouthful of pancake.  
  
"The first time Tem stayed on earth, he drank that stuff every morning. Once, he forgot, and all he could manage was incoherent babbling the entire day, so I ended up brewing some every morning, just in case he forgot his, which he did pretty often, once he found out I did that....Hey..."  
  
Tem chuckled.  
  
"Took you long enough to catch that."  
  
Kelly had just enough time to stick her tongue out at him before shoving more pancake into her mouth.  
  
As Kelly ate, Tem turned to face Zim.  
  
"So, why did you come over so early? Skool doesn't start for an hour."  
  
"Kelly had told us about a battle you two once had, and I was curious as to how you healed her."  
  
Tem blinked.  
  
"Why would she tell you about that?"  
  
"Something similar happened with Dib."  
  
Tem's eyes shot open.  
  
"Is he okay?"  
  
Kelly swalloed and looked up at Tem.  
  
"We got him fixed up just fine."  
  
Tem nodded, and turned back to Zim.  
  
"So, you wanted to know how I healed Kelly?"  
  
Zim nodded, and Tem hopped up onto the counter to sit.  
  
"You know that I basically destroyed over a quarter of her heart, and that the heart is one of the two essential organs in a human's body?"  
  
Zim nodded again, and Tem leaned back slightly.  
  
"Cybernetics. Well, not really. I had my computer simulate human heart tissue, and simply reattached it to her heart. It's arttificial, but works just the same."  
  
Zim nodded once again.  
  
"It's a good thing that that's not what happened to Dib. My computer does not have those capabilities."  
  
Kelly looked over at Zim, after putting her dishes in the sink.  
  
"You were really worried about him."  
  
"No I wasn't."  
  
"Yes you were. You looked like you were about to faint. And the way your voice shook when you called Gir....You were definitely worried about Dib."  
  
"I would never care about some filthy meatbag."  
  
Kelly glanced at Tem, who was doing all he could to keep from laughing at the whole thing, then looked back at Zim.  
  
"You're right, you don't care about him. You love him."  
  
Silence. Then, Zim yelled.  
  
"You're just begging for some doom, Kelly!"  
  
Kelly laughed.  
  
"Aha! I was right!"  
  
"I do not love that worm baby!"  
  
Tem snickered.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's real convincing, Zim."  
  
Zim growled and stomped his foot.  
  
"You both have the brainworms if you think I love Dib!"  
  
Zim stomped out of the house, and Kelly looked at Tem.  
  
"Please tell me you had the surveillance cameras tapeing that.'  
  
Tem smiled as a screen extended down from the ceiling, and played Zim's little rant. Kelly chuckled a bit, before picking up her backpack, which Mir had brought downstairs for her, and heading outside, with Tem next to her.  
  
"One down, one to go."  
  
Tem smirked.  
  
"Yeah, and all we have to do is to get them to start thinking about the possibility. I love matchmaking."  
  
Kelly smirked.  
  
"Perhaps a bit too much. Remember what happened to the punk and the prep you tried hooking up?"  
  
"What, back in freshman year? Of course I do."  
  
"Do you remember what happened to them? They went on one date, and the punk tried assasination attempts at least once a week for the rest of the year!"  
  
"Oh yeah..."  
  
Kelly just rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hey Tem, so why did you really leave Irk?."  
  
Tem sighed, then giggle a little.  
  
"I think you're right about me liking to matchmake too much. I was banished."  
  
Kelly paused, jaw dropped, then she began laughing.  
  
"Oh no! What could you have possibly done to get you banished that had to do with matchmaking?"  
  
Tem looked a bit sheepish.  
  
"Well, I used to be a pretty high-ranking invader, beleive it or not. I may not have liked my job, but I was very good at it. Well, I went to a lot of meetings with the Tallest, and just thought that they'd make a cute couple. Well, I tried all sorts of tricks to get them together, and when they discovered who was behind it, they had me banished pretty quickly."  
  
Kelly blinked, then started laughing. From behind them, Tem barely heard someone say  
  
"What about banishing?"  
  
Tem turned around to see Dib, eyebrow raised, looking at Kelly, who was sitting on the ground, holding her sides, and laughing hard enough to make her eyes water. Tem motioned for Dib to walk with him, and ignore Kelly.  
  
"She'll calm down eventually."  
  
"So, what did you say about banishing?"  
  
Tem gave Dib the extremely short version. Dib blinked.  
  
"But Kelly said that you left because you didn't like to fight."  
  
"Well, it's true that I didn't like to fight, but I didn't just leave, I was banished first. I escaped from the planet I was banished to, then came to Earth."  
  
Dib shrugged, then looked back at Kelly, who seemed to have found a new source of amusement, and was laughing just as hard as she had been. Tem noticed also and rolled his eyes.  
  
"I can't beleive she brought that..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Tem chuckled a little bit.  
  
"Zim came over this morning, asking about how I healed Kelly that one time, and after I told him, Kelly and I had a bit of fun."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, it's nothing really."  
BJust then, Kelly came running over to Tem.  
  
"You didn't tell me this thing had an 'edit' feature. Lookit what I can make him say!"  
  
Kelly hit play, and instead of screaming 'I don't love Dib!' like he really had, Kelly had edited out the 'don't' so Zim was now yelling 'I love Dib!'. Tem Just held his hand to his forehead, laughing.  
  
"I suggest you don't show that to Zim. He might kill you."  
  
Kelly just laughed.  
  
"Yeah, well right now I'm more worried about being late to school."  
  
Suddenly, they all realised that they probably were, and began running. They all managed to slide into their seats just before the bell rang. Zim simply glanced at them, before returnng to staring blankly at the chalkboard at the front of the room. He shuddered, on the board, Mr. Geen had written what they'd be discussing today: 'Why the age of Aquarius is important'  
  
"Hey, Zim. Lookit this."  
  
Kelly tossed the handheld screen at Zim, who hesitantly pressed play. She had edited everything so that it sounded like he was telling Tem and Kelly that he loved Dib. At the top of his lungs. Not noticing or caring that Mr. Green was in the room, Zim stood up, chucked the screen in the general direction of Kelly, and Tem caught it. He pulled a laser pistol out of his backpack, and leveled it at Kelly.  
  
"Shall we see if that artificial peice of your heart is bulletproof?"   
  
Everyone but Tem and Kelly began to slowly back away from Zim. Tem simply sighed, he knew what Kelly was up to. As Zim tightened the claw that was on the trigger, Kelly flipped up and over Zim, lasnding behind him and pulling his arm up so that the laser blast harmlessly shot at the ceiling. Kelly took the pistol from him, and used one arm to hold one of his arms behind his bck, wrapping the other around his throat. Zim splutered a bit.  
  
"How did you do that!?"  
  
Kelly smirked.  
  
"Training and practice, mostly. What, you think Tem never tried to pull a gun on me?"  
  
Zim simply growled and tried to get free of Kelly's grip, but couldn't. By now, Mr. Green had called the principal, who was just arriving. Seeing Kelly restraining the strange boy with the gun, and the hole in the ceiling, he glared at the only people still in the middle of the room: Kelly, Zim, and Tem. He also saw Dib, but he was far enough away to not cause suspicion. He looked at Tem.  
  
"What is going on here!?"  
  
Tem paled slightly, he knew Zim looked like the bad guy, even though it really was Kelly's fault, but if they called Kelly's parents in about it....It would be very bad.  
  
"Well, um, you see, sir," Tem began hoping he sounded nough like a frightened human child, "There was a guy with a gun, and...umm...Zim took the gun from him...he jumped out the window so..he's not here anymore...and Kelly thought that Zim was who shot the ceiling....so she restrained him....it wasn't his fault though..."  
  
Tem tried to keep from exhaling too loudly as the principal seemed to buy it. He turned to look at Kelly and Zim.  
  
"Kelly, let go of him, he's innocent. Zim, thank you for taking the weapon from that man. Now if you'll just give it to me, I'll send it to the crime lab so we can find out who that man was."  
  
The two Irkens and their two human friends all paled. Then Kelly, who was still close to Zim, whispered at him.  
  
"Doesn't that thing have a self-destruct?"  
BZim's eyes widened in comprehension. He carefully twisted a knob and handed it to the principal. The large man left, and Zim looked at Kelly.  
  
"It's timed to go off in five minutes."  
  
Kelly smiled and breathed a sigh of releif. Then Mr. Green allowed them to leave early, since it had been a very stressful day.  
  
As soon as they were out of the building, Kelly jumped on Tem, hugging him tightly.  
  
"You are a genius! I love you!"  
  
Tem froze for a moment, surprised, then returned the hug.  
  
"Thank you. And I love you too, Kelly."  
  
Kelly smiled up at him, then began walking towards his house, the others behind her. When she stopped in the middle of the street, Dib almost ran into her.  
  
"Ack! I almost forgot, if my parents see me go into your house, Tem, they'll come searching for me."  
  
"Well, how are we going to get around that?"  
  
Kelly smiled as she pointed to the general store across the street.  
  
"I'll just dye my hair. C'mon Tem, I want you to help me pick out a color. I've never really liked blond, anyway."  
  
The foursome walked out of the store fifteen minutes later, Kelly holding a box of black hair dye. Tem looked down at her.  
  
"You know, I don't think it'll be much of a help while it's still in the box."  
BKelly laughed.  
  
"You're right. Well, I'm guessing Zim's place doesn't have running water, so...Dib, could I borrow your bathroom for a couple minutes?"  
  
Dib shrugged.  
  
"I don't see why not."  
BKelly smiled.  
  
"Thanks Dib. Well, let's go!"  
  
Gaz hadn't even bothered to look up when the foursome walked in, and Kelly locked herself in the bathroom for fifteen minutes. When she came back out, her hair was just as black as Dib's. Tem smiled.  
  
"It looks good on you."  
  
Kelly smiled also.  
  
"Thanks Tem. Well, what say we go home?"  
  
"Actually, I was thinking of going over to Zim's. He wants me to look over an experiment he's conducting."  
  
"Am I invited?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay! Sounds fun."  
  



	6. chapter 6

When they arrived at Zim's house, Tem and Zim immediatly headed to the lab room where Zim's experiment was, leaving Kelly to have a staring contest with Gir. Kelly lost, and Gir laughed, then hopped down off the couch and began running into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, Gir! Where are you going?"  
  
"To the base-yment. Master keeps all sorts of neat stuff down there."  
  
Kelly grinned, for all she knew, this could be fun.  
  
"Can I see?"  
  
"Yuh-huh! C'mon, this way!"  
  
Gir jumped into the toilet, Kelly following close behind. When they arrived, Kelly looked around, grinning. This was all stuff from old missions of Zim's. Seeing what looked like a bike handle, Kelly walked over to it, and nearly fell over laughing. It was an old tricycle, with a little license plate that said 'DIB'.  
  
_I wonder how he got -that- thing._  
  
Not far from it was some sort of helmet, property of Prof. Membrane, a giant robot, and the mangled remains of some sort of portal-creating machine. He also found, half buried under random stuff, including half-destroyed rubber piggies, was a small, printed up picture of what looked like Dib, when he was very little, maybe around five. Kelly smiled.  
  
"Awww, I think I'll ask Dib how old he was in this picture."  
  
Kelly carefully put it in her backpack and continued walking around.  
  
After a while, she found a small computer disk, and put it into the old, beat up computer on the other side of the room. When she saw what it was, she tilted her head, confused.  
  
"Why would he keep records of Dib's genetic makeup? Eesh, and I thought Tem was weird, keeping one of my skool projects from when we first met."  
  
hrugging, Kelly took the disk out and put it back where she had found it, and continued looking around. Gir came running up to her, holding something.  
  
"LOOKY!"  
  
Kelly laughed.  
  
"Alright, Gir."  
  
Instead of handing the rectangular object to Kelly, he started heading back upstairs. Kelly ran after him, and caught up just as Gir put the object into the VCR and sat down on the couch. Confused, Kelly sat down next to him, and watched as the tape played everything that had happened during the 'Mars Mission'. Just as it got to the part where Dib got knocked out of his chair and landed head first in the butt of mercury, Dib jumped in through the window. Seeing Gir sitting on the couch, watching TV wasn't strange. Seeing Kelly next to the small robot wasn't that unexpected either, since Tem and Zim were friends. However, seeing Gir and Kelly sitting on the couch, watching a tape of the time Zim had planned to squish all life on Earth by rolling Mars on it was just weird. Kelly, realizing who had just entered the house, started giggling. She tried to stop, but intsead just ended up laughing harder. Dib looked at her.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"You...You fell...You fell into Mercury's BUTT CRACK!"  
  
Kelly continued laughing, joined by Gir, while Dib just stood there, looking embarrassed.  
  
"It's not like I meant to or anything..."  
  
Kelly eventually calmed down and looked at Dib.  
  
"You're right, I'm sorry. But still, you gotta admit it's funny when you think about it."  
  
Dib gave a half-grin.  
  
"I guess it is. In a strange, messed up way."  
  
Kelly nodded, then pulled out the picture of little Dib.  
  
"Hey, how old are you in this?"  
  
Dib looked at it.  
  
"I was five. Where'd you get this?"  
  
"I found it in Zim's basement, over by your tricycle, some sort of helmet that belongs to your dad, a giant robot, a big machine that looked like it could create portals, and a bunch of rubber pigs."  
  
Dib shuddered.  
  
"Pigs...Egh...Wait, how'd he get my tricycle?"  
  
Kelly shrugged.  
  
"I dunno, but he also had a record of your genetic makeup."  
  
"Wha?"  
  
"It was actually kinda cute. I mean, I know Tem hangs onto a couple skool projects and drawings that I did when we first met, but I doubt he has a record of my genes lying around anywhere."  
B"Are....Are you suggesting that Zim likes me?"  
  
Kelly smiled.  
  
"Well, it's only a hunch....But did seem overly worried about you when he shot you....and he was all sorts of weird stuff in your basement that has to do with you....and, you are the closest thing he had to a friend until Tem showed up, and Tem's taken, so.....It's possible. What, do you like him?"  
  
Dib's eyes widened.  
  
"No way. He's my enemy, and he's trying to take over Earth. Plus, he's a _guy_."  
  
Kelly shrugged.  
  
"Oh well, you two woulda made a cute couple."  
  
Just then, Tem and Zim came back up to the main floor.  
  
"Hey Kelly, we can go now."  
  
Kelly smiled.  
  
"Okay. And Zim, do you mind if I borrow this?"  
  
Kelly held the tape up so he could see what it was.  
  
"Where di you find that?"  
  
"Well, Gir found this, but it was when we were in the basement. I found this adorable picture of Dib when he was five."  
  
Tem barely kept from snickering, while Zim glared at Kelly.  
B"Leave."  
  
"Can I borrow the tape?"  
  
"No. Now leave."  
  
Kelly shrugged and put the tape down.  
  
"Well, let's go Tem. I still have homeowrk to finish."  
  
Tem nodded and the two walked out of the house, leaving Zim, Gir and Dib to stare at each other.  
  
As Tem and Kelly walked down the street, Kelly giggled.  
  
"Hey Tem, I wasn't the only one that noticed that Dib was blushing, was I?"  
  
Tem smirked.  
  
"Nope. Oh, and something interesting, I managed to look through some of Zim's files while he was working, and there was a huge observation file on Dib. It was all pretty basic stuff, hisfamily, physical appearance, abilities, resources, y'know, pretty normal, except for this one thing."  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"Zim had listed what had to be all of Zim's likes and dislikes."  
  
Kelly grinned.  
  
"Really?"  
  
Tem grinned also, though a little sadly.  
  
"Yeah. The only problem is that Zim listed himself in Dib's dislikes."  
  
Kelly nodded.  
  
"Makes sense. Well, it shouldn't take too long to change that, especially with us helping."  
  
Kelly and Tem smiled and kept walking, until Kelly suddenly tripped and fell flat on her face. She sat up slowly, holding her hand to her nose, which was bleeding, to see Gaz standing nearby, looking at them. Before Kelly could speak, Gaz had opened her eyes and stared at the other human.  
  
"You're trying to get Zim and my brother together, right?"  
  
Kelly, a little confused, nodded. Gaz closed her eyes again.  
  
"I've been working on Dib for awhile. Not that he's noticed, the idiot."  
  
Kelly nodded slightly again.  
  
"He's still in denial. Once he's admitted it to himself, it'll be alot easier."  
  
"Zim already knows he likes DIb, then."  
  
"Mmhmm."  
  
Kelly was about to say more, but Gaz suddenly dissapeared in a swirl of smoke. Tem shook his head as he helped Kelly stand up.  
  
"Creepy girl, that one."  
  
Kelly nodded, eyeing the spot that Gaz had been standing.  
  
at skool the next day, Kelly and Tem couldn't keep from laughing at how obviously Dib was avoiding Zim. Kelly walked over to the taller human boy and slung her arm around his shoulders.  
  
"Dib, you are FAR too obvious."  
  
"Excuse me? And move your arm."  
  
Kelly kept her arm where it was.  
  
"If you don't want anyone to think something's going on, you have to continue as always. You are not, therefore it's almost painfully obvious."  
  
Dib glared at Kelly and pulled away from her.  
  
"I do not like Zim!"  
  
Dib spun around and walked away, while Kelly just stood and giggled.  
  
"Now when did I say anything about that?"  
  
Tem sighed and smacked his head against his desk as Mr. Green wrote 'How WE can acheive world peace' on the board. Kelly simply watched Tem, smiling sympathetically. Zim groaned and pulled out one of the few useful human machines he had come across; a cd player. Dib sat in the back of the room, glaring first at Kelly, then at Tem, then at Zim.  
  
_I DO NOT like Zim. I don't see what Kelly and Tem are thinking. And...wait a minute, how can Zim use headphones? He doesn't have ears. Hmm...maybe he just has subdermal ears or something....He'd look weird with ears. A nose would absolutely ridiculous. Hey, when'd he change his wig? I never noticed that before...._  
  
Kelly glanced over at Dib, nearly laughing out loud when she saw him studying Zim.  
  
_Well THAT wasn't very difficult._  
  
Tem tapped Kelly and handed her a notebook. She looked down at it to see that Tem had written 'Did I look like that when I stared at you before?'  
  
Kelly giggled and wrote, before handing the notebook back to Tem.  
  
'Yeah, except a little less confused.'  
  
Tem laughed a little in embarassment, then turned back to whatever he had been working on before. Kelly sat back and began reading a book.  
  
Tem glanced at Kelly before looking back down at his paper, is plans. He had been in contact with another Irken while he was away from earth, who had told him about the state of things back on his home planet, and things weren't good. The female he had talked to, Fae, was one of the leaders of a rebellion that was forming and she had wanted him to join. He had told her about Earth, and Kelly, and she had told him that if she wanted to come, they would welcome her. Now he just had to figure out how to tell her that he felt he needed to go, but she wouldn't be able to come, because hse couldn't survive without water, which didn't exist on Irk.   
  
Tem stood, shocked and holding his calw up to his cheek, that was bright red. He blinked once, looking down at Kelly, who was glaring furiously up at him.  
  
"I can't beleive you'd just give up that easily, Tem!"  
BWhirling away from the Irken boy, she yelled at the computer.  
  
"Computer! Could you alter a human's genes so that they'd require some substance other than water to live?"  
  
The computer seemed to think about for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I could do that. It'd probably end up altering quite a few other genes in the process, but nothing fatal."  
  
Kelly smiled triumphantly.  
  
"How long would it take you to get set up to do that for me?"  
  
"Umm...about a month."  
  
Kelly nodded.  
  
"Alright. Tem, we have a month to get Zim and Dib together."  
  
WEll, you now know what happens to my plots when I listen to System and ICP for too long. 


End file.
